


I Will Be Your Shield

by ArteaCactus



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: AKA, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avenger Loki (Marvel), Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Everyone lives, FrostIron - Freeform, Irondad, It never happened, M/M, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), SO, anyway this is literally my first avengers fic ever, be gentle please, because i cannot handle conflict, cause i basically spoil it all fight me, everything is f i n e, im in denial, im still not over this movie, most of the characters listed are just mentions tbh, oh yeah also theyre all friends in this, rated t because loki makes one (1) nsfw comment, spiderson, thor hit thanos in the head with stormbreaker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 13:47:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15752940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArteaCactus/pseuds/ArteaCactus
Summary: Loki is a disguised protector of the Avengers, deemed the 'Mage' or 'Mysterious Protector' by the team. He shows up occasionally and aids them in battle, but never once gives away his true identity.Until he pushes himself too far.





	I Will Be Your Shield

**Author's Note:**

> Like I said, very first Avengers fic ever. Be gentle, I don't know how this all works quite yet haha
> 
> Not beta-ed!!
> 
> (This is based on an ask I received on Tumblr!)

It started really slowly, as things that could be brushed off and chalked up as a doing by someone of the team. An occasional rune appearing on the ground and exploding upon contact of an enemy, blowing them to pieces. A dagger flying by and piercing a creature straight through the heart with deadly precision that rivaled even Clint’s accuracy. Once, a dude they’d been fighting was straight up pinned to the ground by some invisible force that the team chose to blame on Wanda, despite the many assurances that she had no part in it.

No one was entirely sure _when_ it had even started. Sometime after Thanos was defeated, maybe. Or perhaps even before then. It had come on so slowly, it was nearly impossible to pinpoint exactly when it began, as it went by unnoticed at first; then the gestures of help got more.. Dramatic. Bigger.

A shield of green magic blocking an explosion from hitting Tony where he was distracted and unprotected. A whip of magic that was braided in green and gold light snapping around three men and tying them down, forcing them to surrender, else they be decapitated by Steve’s vibranium gauntlet-shields. An explosion of green fire-like magic that made the ground shake and stunned a large group of aliens that had been hiding around after the battle with Thanos, though didn’t seem to affect the Avengers at all, despite sending the aliens toppling over instantly. Once, Peter had been covered head-to-toe in waves of green-gold magic and provided a hard-to-break shield that allowed him to get into the nastier fights and help Tony and Thor better without the danger of getting severely hurt, and some tendrils of magic even seemed to tie into his webs and made them stronger. Tony felt immense gratitude towards the mysterious helper for that; helping protect Peter was a surefire way to get on Tony’s good side.

The grander gestures of help was quick to diminish the suspicions of it being the doings of anyone on the team- Wanda’s magic was red, Thor’s blue (and lightning), Stephen’s fiery orange (and more like sparks, the green magic was similar to strings of water, with gold accents like strands of hair). Thor, of course, had his own private suspicions, however. He knew the feeling of his brother’s magic like the back of his hand, after all. And if he hadn’t seen Thanos choke the life from his brother on the ship, and cried over his body, feeling his lack of pulse and his chest no longer rising and falling with breath, Thor would have even gone so far as to demand the mysterious mage to reveal themselves, accusing them of being Loki.

The only thing keeping him from doing so was the constant reminder of his death. He knew he felt no pulse. He didn’t feel any form of life within his brother’s limp body, and he wouldn’t have been able to touch his brother if it were an illusion. He refused to get his hopes up; he’s had them crushed so many times that he didn’t know if he could handle it happening again.

So, Thor didn’t even bother mentioning his suspicions to the rest of the team. Despite telling them of Loki’s start to redemption on Sakaar and Asgard, he wasn’t even sure if they would like that idea very much, anyway. And, Loki didn’t even _like_ the Avengers. Banner, perhaps, but not the team as a whole. So there’s another reason why it surely couldn’t be him.

Well, in Loki’s opinion, Thor didn’t know him very well if these were his reasons for believing it couldn’t possibly be him.

Of _course_ he seemed dead, he had been perfecting his spells for ages to make it convincing; how else would Thanos believe he was no longer living? It wasn’t his best work, admittedly, but it was damn convincing.

And yeah, maybe he didn’t like the Avengers much in the beginning, but after watching them a little bit while being ‘dead’ and doing his best to protect his brother (and Bruce; he _did_ like the man a little bit after the events of Asgard and Sakaar), he found himself quickly growing fond of them and trying his best to protect them all equally, even if he did favor a select few more than the others.

One development he didn’t expect to happen at all was his rapid escalation of feelings towards Anthony and Peter, to be perfectly honest. In the first month of hanging by them as a ‘secret protector’ (Peter’s words, not his), he had already become surprisingly protective of them; exhausting a very large portion of his magical energy on his full-bodied shield for Peter and making a strong barrier to block a dangerous explosion from blowing Anthony’s nanotech armor right off his body, both actions draining him of over half his magic, and it took a week of rest to replenish it, much to his distaste (the Avengers were trouble magnets, after all, and if they’d been attacked while he was recovering, he wasn’t entirely sure how well he’d be able to keep them safe).

After his more… grand stunts, he was surprised to find that the Avengers were no more desperate to find out who their mysterious mage protector was than before. They were a little more suspicious and curious, definitely, but they didn’t actively seek out Loki’s identity like he’d thought they would. They ruled each other out as possible suspects pretty quickly, but after that, they seemed to have just let it drop and choose to trust that he was a good guy who had intentions of protecting, not harming (and they wouldn’t be wrong, but it took him by surprise nonetheless). Perhaps they were waiting to see if Loki would willingly unmask himself when he was ready, or scheming some way to force Loki’s cloaking spells to fall and forcibly show himself, but not doing so in an overly obvious way that would cause Loki alarm (though somehow, he doubted the latter was what was going on).

Of them all, Anthony was the most openly curious, Loki had also noticed. Anthony was the only one who asked about Loki aloud and often- well, not Loki, but their mysterious protector. Of course, Loki hasn’t hung around the New Avengers Facility (why couldn’t they have kept the tower, honestly, Loki was fond of that tower) enough to actually know if anyone else discussed him much, but in public and during battle, Anthony was the most talkative of them all and was often directing questions to him that he wasn’t able to answer (his identity was supposed to be secret for a reason), whereas the others seemed far more content to just accept his help and not acknowledge him much more than a quick thanks.

“Hey, mage! Little help here?”

Speak of the devil.

Loki was broken from his internal monologue by Anthony’s voice calling out to him, drawing his attention back to the battle he was currently aiding in; a human who had gone a little too far in dabbling in black magic and (unintentionally?) creating a ‘cult’ of undead creatures, humans and animals all rising from the ground in overwhelming numbers, decayed and empty yet radiating some form of twisted life-force, like an artificial soul, not unlike Hela with her undead army in Asgard. Only this was a human and sloppy black magic, in downtown New York.

Lips quirking into the slightest smirk at the nickname he’d been given by the team, Loki obediently offered help to the man, who had his fists held closed and arms shoved downwards by a headless corpse, a second rotted zombie-like creature with a hand around Anthony’s throat, not yet cutting off air but the threat was still there. Loki knew that, if he wanted to, he could get out of it unaided, but if the proud Anthony Stark asked his help, why deny him of it?

Loki’s fist, invisible to all but himself, closed, emerald green magic curling like fire around his fingers, tendrils of gold streaking into the ball of power, and he threw down the ball of magic towards Anthony, fist opening and allowing the magic to explode upon impact to the ground, shaking the ground and sending the already-unsteady zombified creatures falling to the ground, releasing Anthony of their inhumanely strong grip. The magic crawled up the legs of the creatures it touched, vibrant green gaining a sickly yellow hue as it absorbed the dark power radiating from the artificial life-forces of the zombies, and Loki’s fist closed once again, crushing the very cores of the zombies and causing their physical, decayed bodies to fall to pieces, hopefully dead for good this time.

Despite not being able to see his face behind the helmet, Loki could hear the overly pleased grin in Anthony’s voice as he thanked him, and in a flash of golden light he was in the air once more, firing at the creatures from above.

Loki, standing on the roof of a short gas station, allowing him view of most of the battle, gave aid to the Avengers who looked like they needed it, but were too proud to ask for it- namely, Natasha, Clint, Stephen..

In a quick lash of his arm, Loki sent a whip of magic out towards Peter, who’d been running from an extremely agile zombie that was on his tail, his webbing doing little to put a far distance between them; the rotted corpse climbed the walls of the buildings with ease and jumped across the streets, keeping up with Peter and preventing him from getting too far away. Loki knew Peter wouldn’t admit it, but he could feel the spider-child’s fear from where he stood (though he didn’t know what he was afraid of, entirely). The whip cracked right across the chest of the zombie, the magic successfully knocking him off Peter’s tail and sending the corpse plummeting to the ground, Loki’s magic blowing it up like he did to the ones crowding Anthony.

“Thanks, mage!” Peter yelled out, relief evident in his tone, and Loki chuckled, the nickname still amusing him, despite having received it months ago, when the Avengers were getting tired of constantly calling him “mystery invisible magic person”. Loki couldn’t say he was displeased with the change.

Loki pulled his arm against his chest and he crouched near the ledge of the roof, magic pooling around his arm, flowing from his elbow down to his fingertips, building more and more in power and in visibility- the glow of emerald and gold was strong enough to catch the eye of Clint, Anthony, Peter, and Stephen, who braced themselves immediately, preparing for the feeling of raw power to wash over them when Loki releases his spell.

Loki, unbothered by his position being made known to the Avengers (as long as they couldn’t see his face, he didn’t really care, and he had enough invisibility and cloaking magic on him that he knew he was safe in that matter), tensed up as he felt the tugging of magic at his core, building and increasing in power and drawing at his energy, his arm entirely cloaked in the vibrant colors of green and golden strings, magic thrice the size it had been mere seconds ago, and in the instant he saw Thor raise Stormbreaker, he leaped off the roof and slammed his fist into the ground, the strong, overwhelming powerful explosion of magic combining with Thor’s equally powerful explosion of thunder and lightning, causing Loki’s magic and Thor’s lightning to soak in each other’s color, becoming a vibrant color that was somewhere between electric blue and gemstone green, sparks of gold in the air. Loki’s magic spread out into a massive shielded dome that covered the entirety of the area the Avengers were in, locking in the zombified creatures and letting Thor’s lightning fry their poor excuses of souls, successfully killing all but a small handful of zombies that were outside the dome.

The dome remained in place, allowing Anthony and Hulk to exit and kill off the last of them, and Clint’s arrows piercing through to finish off the ones they couldn’t reach.

“Holy shit!” Loki distantly heard Peter yell out, a swell of satisfaction in his chest at the exclamation his and Thor’s combined powers had caused.

“Hey, next time, why don’t we _start_ with that one?” Clint scoffed, though Loki could tell that he, too, was impressed by the show of magic, and impressing Clint was certainly no easy feat. Loki prided himself in being able to do so.

Loki couldn’t _tell_ them why they couldn’t start with it, for obvious reasons, but damn, could he feel it. That single show of magic had depleted more energy than was probably safe, and Loki was only just able to keep his body hidden from sight. Perhaps it was a bad idea to do that, now that he thought of it. He was exhausted and it would undoubtedly take the better half of a month to fully restore the magic that had pulled from him. Plus, combining with Thor was dangerous, too. Very few could combine their magic with the God of Thunder’s like that- Loki could count the number of those known to on one hand. Thor knew Loki’s magic, knew how it felt and how it looked- it was astonishing that Thor didn’t call him out as soon as Loki’s power connected with Thor’s own. He couldn’t say he was displeased, though. He wanted to keep his identity under wraps just a little bit longer, thank you very much.

Loki leaned heavily against the corner of the gas station he previously stood on the roof of, exhaling shakily, willing the last of his magic to keep his cloaks over himself. Usually, he’d be gone by now, teleporting away the second the battle ends so he can get to safety and recharge, but he couldn’t even muster the power to teleport away without his invisibility falling to build up the energy needed to do so.

The dome fell, and Loki almost fell with it, the magic receding back into himself and strengthening his disguising magic, though he knew Thor, Stephen, and Wanda could still feel him- Thor the most of them all. They were sensitive to magic, and could pick up his presence easily, and they knew it wasn’t normal for Loki to hang around this long after a fight finished.

“Mage?” Stephen’s voice came, and Loki could hardly believe the tinge of concern in his tone. “You are usually gone by now.” Of course Stephen states the obvious, Loki thought with just the slightest roll of his eyes. Second-rate sorcerer.

“That last move depleted your magic a little too much, aye?” Thor’s voice came next, deep tone familiar and comforting, allowing Loki to lose the tension in his shoulders at least. Loki didn’t respond, didn’t even give an indication he had heard them, but the fact he stuck around was answer enough.

Thor’s eyes were still lit with electricity, crackling and striking the iron of his breastplate occasionally, and his sharp gaze was trained on where Loki stood, despite not being seen, and had the others be able to pinpoint his exact location, he would have been worried he’d become visible. But Steve and James were still oblivious to Loki’s location, and Clint seemed to be looking all over for the source of his magic, so Loki had no real reason to fear. Perhaps Thor could see through his shields, given that he was Asgardian and Loki’s brother and therefore knew him well enough to not be tricked by his illusions, but Loki couldn’t find it in him to care very much about it at the moment. Thor would understand Loki’s desire to stay hidden, he knew, and while Thor would probably get quite pissed off at him later for keeping his current status as ‘alive’ a secret, it was still preferred to being exposed to the entire team outside of a safe space.

“If mage here has exhausted their magic, they’re more than welcome to come back to the facility and recharge.” Anthony’s voice came from above as he lowered himself smoothly down to the ground, helmet disappearing into his suit (no matter how many times Loki watches his nanotech work, he’s endlessly fascinated by it every time).

Tony followed Thor’s line of sight towards where he presumed the mage was sitting as he made his offer, gaze alight with hope that the mage accepts and comes back with them. “You know the offer is always there when needed, right, mage?”

He was, admittedly, incredibly curious about who the mysterious protector was. A possibly non-human thing, who was obviously _immensely_ powerful, dedicating their time, magic, and energy to protecting the Avengers? How could he not desire to know of their identity- if not to thank them, then to at least offer them an official title as Avenger, so they could stop calling them ‘mysterious protector’ and give them some sort of proper name (Tony was particularly fond of Iron Mage, but Steve claimed that was just him wanting to gain some sort of relationship with the person)? They didn’t even know if they were a man or a woman, that’s how little information Tony had on them, and he _hated_ it. He hated not knowing everything about everyone, he hated not even having a solid way of referring to them; it was just ‘they’ and ‘mage’.

Tony shuffled his feet, arms crossing over his chest, gaze still trained on the seemingly empty spot that Thor was eyeing up (could the God see the mage standing there? He’d have to ask him about that later). The only indication Tony had that it wasn’t empty was the slight distortion of space there, everything just a little different, like he was staring at it through clear water. He guessed the mage really _did_ deplete themselves of magic; they could never see that before, never could tell the slightest bit that there was anyone who was invisible standing with them. Their magic was running pretty low if they were becoming more visible by the second.

“Hey, uh, you’re kind of turning visible.” Peter’s voice broke through Tony’s thoughts, dropping down on the ground next to him, webs stuck to his ankles and causing him to nearly trip over himself, much to the amusement of Tony.

Loki inhaled sharply. This was precisely what he’d wanted to avoid. He couldn’t let himself be revealed; not _now_ , anyway. He thought quickly, almost frantically pulling on the last bit of magic he had left to let out a sharp burst of blinding light, taking the Avengers by surprise and forcing them to shield their eyes, lest they be damaged by the light, which gave Loki the second of cover he needed to drop his invisibility cloaking and teleport out of the area. He only dropped a few miles away, stumbling down and almost falling to his knees on the crumbled pavement, close enough to the apartment building he was hiding out in to not need to deplete his magic any further to get closer. He shakily steadied himself, feeling much weaker than he had in years, walking as fast as he could down the cracked pavement of the sidewalk and ignoring the damage caused by the fight. He didn’t have the magic needed to repair it all right now. He shouldn’t try.

It was only when Loki collapsed onto his dark-colored couch, in the safety of his own small home, that he realized something that should probably have worried him more than it did.

Thor didn’t shield his eyes.

* * *

 

Thor wasn’t quite sure what to feel. He was glad that his brother was alive, seeing his face not pale and gray and his chest rising and falling with steady breaths was surely worth the splitting headache he’d gotten from the light Loki gave off. But he was also pissed off beyond belief, because Loki had been alive this whole time and never bothered to come to Thor; to reassure his brother that _hey, I’m alive, no need to grieve, I’m okay!_

He’d been silent the entire way back to the facility, his expression carefully blank (Loki had always said he wore his heart on his sleeve, he wondered if his brother was surprised to find Thor had gotten better at reining himself in), and that alone was enough to keep the Avengers from pestering him. Stark had even kept his mouth shut; a miracle in and of itself.

He was thinking about how to approach this. There was no way in Hel he wasn’t going to storm into wherever Loki resided, and demand answers. He already made up his mind on that. He’d grieved the loss of his brother thrice now, each time being a mere trick, and Loki was going to know just how much Thor had been hurt by it, this last one in particular; he watched the life be choked from him by _Thanos_. The loss of Heimdall had been damaging enough.

However, even in the midst of his anger, Thor knew he couldn’t just spew hateful words at Loki. No matter how strong Loki tried to make himself seem, Thor knew Loki couldn’t handle that, his brother always was more affected by cruel words than he let on, and the last thing he wanted was for Loki to resent him.

So, Thor forced himself to calm down. He forced himself to take a deep breath and ease the tension from his shoulders, lightning no longer swarming his vision, calming himself to the best of his abilities. He knew he was pissed off now, but the second he came face-to-face with Loki, he would give in to the feelings of relief and pin Loki in a tight hug that the God of Mischief wouldn’t even be able to hope to escape.

Loki should have expected it, really, yet he still startled when the door to his apartment had been thrown open, his oaf of a brother thundering inside. Loki was almost surprised that Thor at least shut the door behind him, but he didn’t have time to be before his shoulders were grabbed and he was thrown against the wall, breath momentarily knocked from his lungs by the force of it, letting out a soft ‘oof’. Thor’s arm was held against Loki’s chest and his other fist clutched Stormbreaker’s handle, holding his axe by his side, a silent threat that Loki knew Thor wouldn’t act on, no matter how angry he got.

“Brother-” Loki grunted, trying to ease the other’s anger before he exploded and Loki’s neighbors complained about the noise; Thor tended to ‘boom’ his voice, after all.

“How long?” Thor rumbled, “How long have you been actively hiding the truth from me?”

Loki sighed, shoulders drooping in defeat. “I wasn’t intending to,” He replied, an honest truth that felt a little odd on Loki’s tongue, “I was going to tell you, I was going to give a more obvious indication-”

“More obvious?” Thor echoed, eyes narrowed. They weren’t yet sparking with lightning, which Loki took as a good sign.

“Yes, _more obvious_ .” Loki scoffed, “Have you forgotten, brother? This is not my skin. My magic is what keeps this up. If I were truly dead, my magic would have vanished; my skin reverting to it’s natural form. I would have turned _blue_ , Thor. That should have been obvious enough that I was still alive. You have nothing to blame but your own stupidity on that.”

“Forgive me for not thinking straight after watching my best friend and brother be killed.” Thor almost snarled, but his arm fell from Loki’s chest, releasing him from being pinned against the wall. “Why couldn’t you have sought me out? Why couldn’t you have _told_ me?” Thor stressed, “I thought you were dead for good. I had no hope that Thanos would let you slip from his grasp. I’ve been hurt so much by being hopeful, Loki, I didn’t want to set myself up for more pain.”

Loki’s emerald gaze dropped to the ground momentarily, before lifting up to the dark look in Thor’s eyes. The man was forced to fight the Mad Titan alone. He was the one who cut through his skull with Stormbreaker, and he had no family to come back to. He had no home; it was destroyed along with his friends and family.

Loki knew the feeling of being faced by the Mad Titan with no one else on his side. He knew how it felt to have no family backing him up, no true home to come back to. He felt a twinge of guilt, for letting Thor go through that as well, but he brushed it off as soon as it came, burying it under the pile of emotions he had boxed away and refused to face. He took a deep breath and shook himself. “I’m.. sorry, to put you through that.” He spoke slowly, “But if I hadn’t, then I _wouldn’t_ have made it out alive. It was either deceive him to the best of my abilities, and by extension, you, or _actually_ die.” Loki gestured to himself, “I like to think I picked the better option.”

Thor huffed, and his grip lessened on Stormbreaker, the axe falling on the ground, and Loki didn’t even have time to prepare himself for the bone-crushing hug he was pulled into, Thor’s arms circled around Loki’s shoulders and waist, squeezing him tighter than he had on the ship.

Loki’s hands were held in the air for a moment, unsure of where to put them, before he hesitantly rested them atop Thor’s shoulders and back, sighing. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”

He felt more than he heard Thor’s rumbling chuckle, and he definitely felt the grip around him tighten. “Yes, it does. I’m still pissed off, but you’re forgiven.”

Loki’s lips curled into a smile, and he was held a moment longer, before finally being released. Thor looked at him now with a glint in his eye that he wasn’t particularly fond of, and Loki prepared himself first before asking, “What?”

“Care to tell me why you seem to have taken such an immense liking towards Stark and Parker?”

Loki choked on an inhale, much to Thor’s amusement, coughing and stammering out an answer that Thor ignored in favor of teasing him further. “I do not judge for your taste in men, brother,” He continued on, pleased to find something he could use against his brother after being teased so often himself, “Stark is a fine man, intelligent and much of a trickster himself. I’m just curious about how you seem to like the spider-child so much too, you’ve been here for months and you already have a crush and a son.”

“A son?!” Loki repeated, finally getting his breathing under order (partially, he was still coughing). “He’s not my _son_ , Thor, you stupid oaf, he’s a _child-_ ”

“That you seem to adore,” Thor cut in, looking far too happy with himself, “And you deny that Parker is your son, yet brush off the comment of Stark? Have I hit truth, brother? Don’t tell him I said this, but he’s particularly fond of you, as well.”

“I’m not _brushing off_ the comment, I’m just saying that Peter is _not_ my son, just a child who I feel I have to aid in protecting because of- hold on, did you say Anthony is fond of me?” The fire seemed to diminish as soon as Thor’s word registered, and his embarrassed expression twisted into one of confusion, and he cut himself off mid-sentence to fall on the entirely new topic.

Thor, even more amused by the uncharacteristic change, crossed his arms over his chest. “Of course. You protected his child, Loki, and your magic intrigues him. How can he not be fond of you? He mentioned making armor for you, you know. Said he wanted to call it ‘Iron Mage’. Rogers says it’s just because Stark wants a relationship with you, he wants you to be named after him.”

Loki was a mix of utter horror, confusion, and embarrassment; horrified that Thor wouldn’t just _shut up_ , embarrassed because of his uncharacteristic lack of control over his emotions, and confused because why would Anthony make a suit for him? Wait, Peter wasn’t Anthony’s child-

Thor cut off Loki’s thoughts, seemingly taking pity on him, patting him on the shoulder. He changed the topic, choosing to let Loki think over that whole situation later. “I understand you probably want your identity to remain a secret, yes?”

“Of course,” Loki replied, relieved at the change of topic, choosing to face his conflicting emotions later. Or never. Probably never. “The first, last, and _only_ time they’ve ever interacted with me was while my mind was being controlled by Thanos. They won’t like me.”

“Come now, brother, Banner likes you!” Thor reassured, giving him one of his dorky smiles, “You got along great!”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Loki replied, slightly vexed, “We are civil with each other.”

“You gave him a magic shield that let him rip apart a helicopter without the blades denting his skin.”

“He didn’t know it was _me_.”

Thor rolled his eyes. “Come on, now, brother. Banner spoke of your help during Asgard, and Sakaar. How you aided our escape, and were our rescue during Surtur’s reawakening. He’s pulled most of the Avengers to be indifferent to you, at least.”

Loki scoffed. “Indifference isn’t the same as liking, Thor.” He sighed, falling back onto his couch, sitting on the green cape he hadn’t bothered to remove after the fight (visible or not, he was going to look damn good in public, after all).

“Perhaps not, but it’s a step in the right direction.” Thor assured him, “Either way, I don’t think any of them will be outright angry at your appearance. You’ve helped keep them from severe danger. You placed an enchantment on the entire facility, keeping it safe from harm. Combining your magic with my lightning and ending the fight in one move even impressed Barton. That’s gotta mean something. Besides, it would be best for you to confess yourself, lest you be forced to reveal yourself by an enemy.”

“Thor,” Loki frowned, a crease forming between his eyebrows as he looked up at his brother, who was so hopefully trying to get him to come back with him. “I won’t be going to the facility with you. Please. Respect this choice.”

Thor opened his mouth to protest, but the tired look Loki threw at him shut it. Thor reluctantly obeyed. “Fine. But don’t think I won’t be coming back here, brother.”

“To act as my therapist about my feelings for Anthony, or to convince me to join the Avengers?”

“So you _admit_ you have feelings for him.”

“Thor!”

* * *

 

Okay, perhaps Thor was right.

Little over a month later, Loki stood in one of the living floors of the Avengers facility, Anthony’s floor to be exact (though, really, the entire building is Anthony’s). He was in the main kitchen, leaning against the white marble counter, gloved hands wrapped around a steaming black mug of coffee that he’d made after some trial and error with Anthony’s machine (honestly, Midgardian coffee machines were far too advanced, there was no need for so many options).

He’d thought over the things Thor had said, during the visit (or rather, when Thor crashed into his place and demanded to be given answers). A little bit. And he _sort of_ supposed Thor was right (don’t ever tell him, the oaf’s ego was inflated enough), he had better reveal his identity in his own time rather than it being forced out by someone intending harm to them.

He didn’t really want to.. Reveal himself to them all at once, though. Start with one he trusts the most, and gradually go down the line.

His initial choice was Bruce, given the fact he’d interacted with the scientist the most. He’d aided in their escape from Sakaar, fought alongside him, and rescued him from Asgard to (try and) bring him back home. So, Bruce would have been the least likely to throw a fit, right?

However, thinking it over a bit more, Anthony was the one he decided on in the end. For no reason in particular other than he felt it right. He wanted Anthony to be the first to know, maybe because he liked Anthony the best out of the team, or maybe because of his odd infatuation with him (that Thor claimed was a crush). Perhaps it wasn’t his best choice, now that he was standing in his kitchen and was hit with the realization of what he was _doing_ . He threw Anthony out of a window. Threatened him. Tried to kill him. Well, he tried to kill _all_ of them, really.

Loki gave a heavy exhale, leaning back against the wall. Anthony wasn’t here yet, giving him time to think about what he was going to do, what he was going to say. He didn’t know where Anthony was, to be honest. Thor just told him that he wasn’t in his floor, and that Loki would have roughly an hour of peace to adjust himself to the environment and plan his words (because his brother was just trying _so hard_ to be his wingman).

Loki closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, and released his magic, that was now fully replenished after the battle that exposed his identity to his brother. Ribbons of green and gold surrounded his body in an act of comfort, easing the tension from his mind as he stressed over his meeting. They curled and licked at him like flames of green, threads of gold twined in the emerald, casting a soft glow of color to shine on the white room. Loki’s eyes opened again, a striking emerald green color, even more vibrant than his already bright green eyes, the color reacting to his magic being active.

Did he really have to think about what he was going to say to Anthony? No matter what he plans, it’s not like it would be a laid-out script that Anthony himself would follow in responses. It was useless to try and make a plan when he was going to be facing an unpredictable, snarky, intelligent Midgardian.

Regardless, he wasn’t going to have time. He could hear footsteps come nearer to the door, accompanied by humming of what Loki recognized as the song that played when he and Anthony first ‘met’, when Anthony made his grand arrival by blasting music.

He didn’t get enough time to even try and panic and rethink this, as the door swung open and Loki felt the other’s eyes on him before he even saw the man himself. Lifting his emerald gaze to meet Anthony’s brown eyes, Loki was genuinely surprised to find that Anthony hadn’t instantly armed himself and held a weapon to his face.

Anthony’s gaze swept over him, and Loki just barely held back from shuffling his feet anxiously, suddenly oddly self conscious with the calculating stare resting on him. He wore his Sakaarian leather clothes, gold and black cape draped across one of his arms, hiding the way his shoulders shook slightly from the sudden nervousness that washed over him. What if Anthony didn’t like him? What if he wanted revenge for the attack on New York and launched an attack on him? Loki was vulnerable without any proper armor, and his magic knew Anthony as a friend, not a foe; he’d have to rely solely on blades to protect himself, not his magic.

Tony, however, wasn’t at all thinking about attacking him.

In fact, his thoughts were the complete opposite.

He remembered Bruce telling him about Loki, how he’d seemingly changed for the better. Told him that the attack on New York wasn’t even Loki’s doing, not really; but the work of Thanos. Bruce had said he’d fought alongside Loki, had been saved by Loki, and the God of Mischief was still a little shit, but he wasn’t batshit crazy like he had been.

One thing that Bruce stressed was Loki’s eyes. Loki’s eyes, during the battle, were blue. They were a cloudy, dim blue. Like Clint’s, and Agent Coulson’s, and Erik Selvig’s. They were a possessed blue.

And, now that Tony really looked at him, he realized Bruce was right; Loki’s eyes were green now. Not dim or clouded, but a crystal clear, vibrant, emerald green. He didn’t have a haunted look to him, either. His expression seemed to convey anxiety, for some reason, but he didn’t look like he was driven insane with power. In fact, his very presence radiated calm, collected, and just a bit of ‘ _I’m better than you, bow to me_ ’, but he didn’t demand Tony to kneel before him while wearing a ridiculous helmet like he did before. He held himself like a prince, chin pointed upwards and with an air of pride and cockines surrounding him.

And yet, perhaps it was the sense of familiarity that caused Tony to relax. Despite Loki’s aura yelling out ‘I’m a prince and you shall treat me with respect’, Tony couldn’t bring himself to even care, stepping towards him and shedding his coat, tossing it on the chair as he walked. Loki’s magic seemed to recognize him, Tony realized, watching the swirling mist-like substance surrounding the God reach out towards Tony, the golden color growing more prominent.

“So. You’re not dead.”

Smooth, Tony.

Loki’s lips curled upwards into a grin, and Tony was struck by how the God seemed to have gotten much prettier than when he last saw him. Or maybe since the tinge of crazy was gone, Tony was able to appreciate his attractiveness more.

“No, I am not.” Loki replied, voice smooth as silk and warm as honey. Tony usually had a preference for women, but damn, he wouldn’t say no to some overnight bonding time with Loki. When he wasn’t actively trying to kill him, snarling threats in every sentence, Loki was downright gorgeous, his voice warm and inviting, body language open and non-threatening, and his hair looked a lot nicer when it was resting in slight curls across his shoulders rather than behind him in little flips to the air, in Tony’s opinion.

Loki didn’t mind Anthony’s studying of him once the initial anxiety wore off, Anthony now standing almost directly in front of him, gaze sweeping everywhere, from his hair to his eyes to the clothes he wore. Loki’s magic receded, allowing Anthony a clearer view of him. He was amused by Anthony’s open fascination with his magic, watching it sink back into his skin with poorly disguised awe.

“You’re the mysterious mage, hm?” Anthony hummed next, and Loki put the mug he held down, the coffee chilled now. “Didn’t see you as a coffee man. Sort of expected you to be a tea sort of guy.”

“I can appreciate both.” Loki replied smoothly, “Depends on my mood and what I’m craving.” Moving his shoulder and pushing the cape behind him so it was no longer covering half his body, Loki rested his palms back against the counter, leaning into them and crossing his legs. Something about his pose was so comfortable and relaxed that it caused Tony to grin, a form of satisfaction swelling in his chest at the fact Loki wasn’t put off by his presence. “And yes, I am who you foolishly deemed ‘mage’.”

“Hey, the name was fitting, okay? You didn’t exactly give any indication you _didn’t_ like it.”

“Did I say I didn’t?” Loki’s eyes were light with a teasing fire, and Tony’s grin widened.

“No, I guess you didn’t.” He replied, “But still, it was better than ‘ _weird magical protector of the Avengers_ ’. Bit of a mouthful. Mage was shorter and easier to say, and plus, we didn’t really have anything else to call you.”

Loki gave a weird mix of a laugh and a scoff, head tilting upwards ever so slightly. “Who’s to say I’m _not_ a mouthful either way?”

The flirt took Tony by surprise, and even Loki seemed a little bit unsure, as if he hadn’t meant to say it out loud, and he almost looked ready to backtrack. Tony couldn’t let that happen, of course. Loki declared war with his flirt and now the flirt-off was on.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out."

.. Not his best material, but hey, he was distracted by an attractive God in his room, it wasn’t his fault.

Loki didn’t seem to care, though, merely letting out a startled chuckle, clearly not expecting his flirt to be returned, and Tony felt immensely pleased with himself for being able to draw the sound from him. He counted that as a win for him.

“What inspired you do be mysterious, invisible aid for us anyway?” Tony asked after a few seconds of silence, curiosity getting the best of him. “Kinda thought you didn’t like us.”

“I was under the same impression of you.” Loki replied, “Long after I knew the battle with the Mad Titan had ended, I returned here, to Midgard, mainly to make sure that he really _was_ dead. No resurrections, this time. And I found not only that, but that you were all in dire need of assistance. So I offered my help where I could, but kept it a secret. Didn’t want to reveal myself, for selfish reasons. I didn’t want to be disturbed. Plus, I was under the impression I was widely disliked, perhaps hated, and thought it best not to show up so soon, while I was still weakened from the Mad Titan and everyone else on edge.

“I gave light protection, invisible enchantments to armor and weapons, shielding from hits that would have been fatal. Sometimes using my daggers to kill enemies myself. I wasn’t intending to stay. I was going to leave, perhaps return to my home realm and claim the crown that was rightfully mine, I don’t know. And then I found myself getting fond of you pathetic humans, my previous meetings with Bruce on Sakaar and Asgard only succeeding in aiding in my attachment to him and Thor. I stuck around longer, used more of my magic than before, making myself known, somewhat. Honestly, I’m surprised Thor didn’t call me out on my presence sooner; my brother knows my magic well- he knows _me_.

“I found myself getting more attached than was safe, however. Amused by your antics, protective of your lives, draining more and more of my magic and energy each and every fight so I could provide as much protection and aid as I possibly could. And that last one, the one where Thor and I combined our powers in that fatal blow, made me hit my limit. Thus, why I am here, now, confessing my identity due to Thor pushing me to do so before an enemy forces it out.” Loki’s arms spread out, like he was offering himself to Tony. “Sorry to disappoint, it’s just me who was your protector.”

“Disappoint?” Anthony echoed with a scoff, “Far from it, Reindeer Games. I dare say I’m relieved that it’s you. Least I know you, and from the sounds of it, you’re not bad now that your mind is one-hundred-percent your own.”

“Maybe not.” Loki’s lips quirked in a smirk, the familiar nickname sending oddly pleased chills up his spine. “Where did that nickname come from, by the way?”

“Your ridiculous pointy helmet.” Anthony replied, gesturing for Loki to follow him as he made his way from the kitchen and towards the large couch. Loki did so silently, accepting the seat as Anthony sat on the couch and patted the spot next to him in invitation. “Do you still have it?”

“Of course I still have it,” Loki scoffed, “I altered it’s design slightly, but I’d never rid of it.”

“Altered?” Tony repeated, curious as to how exactly Loki had ‘altered’ it. Change the color? Shape of the horns? “Can I see it?”

“Maybe.” Loki replied, grin on his face, “Someday.”

Tony groaned. He wanted to see it _now_ , but the mischievous light in Loki’s eyes said he wasn’t gonna give it to him, and he’d have to wait. “You’re killing me, Lokes. I’m curious by nature. You can’t tell me that and then not let me see it. You might as well just toss me out the window again.”

 _Lokes_. Loki didn’t know if he loved or hated that. He’ll stick with ‘neutral feelings’ for now.

“Done it once before, wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped.”

“Wow. You know, I’ve never once been told I was anything less than satisfying.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

Tony made an offended noise, that was quickly drowned out by Loki’s soft laughs of amusement.

Somehow, and really, neither of them were sure how, they’d ended up laying across the cushions on the couch, Loki tucked against the back cushions and Tony practically draped across his chest, sound asleep. Loki’s cape had been turned into a makeshift black-and-gold blanket, covering their bodies, providing warmth.

Tony’s head was tucked up against Loki’s chin, nose in the God’s neck, and Loki’s face was pressed into Tony’s hair. Loki’s arms were draped across Tony’s shoulders, holding him to him, whereas Tony seemed to ball up, his own arms curled against his chest in the space between them. Somehow, they didn’t fall off the side of the couch, despite Tony laying near the edge.

And that’s how they were found by Thor, who had been in the main meeting room with the Avengers and waiting for Stark to arrive, as they had all agreed on a dedicated ‘ _bonding night_ ’ to fix their broken friendships, and Stark was usually the one to kick it off. After an hour had passed and they’d gotten nothing from him, Thor volunteered to check up on him. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew the reason Stark wasn’t showing up, but he didn’t speak of it, and he was let go easily. If there was trouble, Thor could easily hold his own, and he was fully able to call for help if needed.

Thor had traveled up the stairs and through the halls to the private rooms, and opened the doors of Stark’s floor to the sight before him, his brother and shield-brother a tangle of limbs and soft snores on the billionaire’s couch, both of them looking far more relaxed than Thor had seen in _years_.

So, he let them rest, dimming the lights and returning to the team (not without taking a picture for blackmail purposes, though), saying Stark was catching up on some well-deserved rest and they could continue the night without him, for once; and they did, none of them too concerned. Tony _did_ deserve the sleep, after all.

And if Tony wakes up to lips pressed against his forehead, and captures them with his own before Loki can pull away from him, kissing him with a fire that took both of them by surprise, well, no one has to know.

Except they do, because FRIDAY just can’t keep her cameras to herself and shared a picture of it to the team.

This is exactly why Tony favored JARVIS.


End file.
